How to prepare for a job interview as a programmer

As a programmer, preparing for a job interview should be dealt with differently to other roles. After all, employers won’t just be looking for standard qualifications; they’ll also want to ensure you have the programming knowledge to hit the ground running when you start. Most employers will test you during the interview and they’ll do that by asking various questions related to the programming language you’ve mastered. If you’re looking to prepare yourself for an interview as a programmer, consider the following tips that’ll give you an advantage over other candidates.

Research the Interview Process
Researching how a company interviews its programmers will give you a great advantage when it comes to interview day. Businesses conduct interviews differently, so knowing what’s going to get thrown at you during the interview will make you well prepared. You’ll need to have a chat with human resources during the interview stage, but you’ll also be interviewed by multiple programmers, so they can see you have the skillset required to take the company forward. This means you’ll need to be on the ball from start to finish. It’s tricky trying to find out how a company conducts interviews, especially if they’re only a small competitor. However, simply asking people that have worked at the company before is a good way to begin your research – you can also check out this helpful IT interview guide to understand the basics.

Prepare for Multiple Brain Teasers
If you’re getting interviewed by expert programmers, they’re going to do everything they can to catch you off guard. They’ll do this by asking you several brain teasers that you’ve likely never heard of before, but are somehow related to the programming language. The best way of preparing for such questions is to spend a few hours every day revising what you already know. If you class yourself as an expert programmer but there are still areas in which you feel you could know more about, this is the perfect time to master it. The questions they ask you will greatly vary, especially if it’s a company that uses its custom-made CMS (Content Management System) to build websites, for example.

Master Your Resume
As stated above, employers are going to want to catch you off guard, whether that’s for their own egos or simply because they are required to do so. Therefore, you’ll want to master your resume and always be honest about what you’ve achieved. If you state on your resume that you’re a top chef at home, they’ll question your ability to cook – and it doesn’t matter if it’s not related to the job itself, they just want to see how edgy you get. Spend time going over your resume to see what can be changed to something more realistic. You’ll also want to change anything you’ve lied about because they will get the truth out of you eventually.

In conclusion, the interview process for a programmer is a lot harder than going for a job at a local bar. Employers will want to get the truth out of you and they’ll always need to see how good you actually are. Always spend time preparing for your interview and you’ll find it will go much smoother.